In order to load programs faster, Windows (XP+) has a feature called Prefetch which caches system files you most commonly use. If are you ever curious as to what is loaded by the prefetch function, check out WinPrefetchView.
The main window of WinPrefetchView contains 2 panes: The upper pane displays the list of all Prefetch files in your system. When you select a file in the upper pane, the lower pane displays the list of files stored inside the selected Prefetch file, which represent the files that were loaded by the application in the previous times that you used it.
These is also special Prefetch file, with ‘NTOSBOOT-B00DFAAD.pf’ filename, which can show you the list of files that are loaded during Windows boot process.
This free utility does not require any installation to run and can give you some insight into what your system is doing. For the most part, you shouldn’t mess with your prefetch data (just let Windows manage it), however WinPrefetchView will allow you to delete an entry if you want.
Like what you read?
If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:
